Al's Pancake World Deluxe
by arielbelle
Summary: After leaving Yale, Rory moves into her grandparents house. She takes a trip to Stars Hollow in an attempt to make up with her mom, but finds a happy surprise in a new possible relationship with an old flame. -Rated M for language and possible sexual content later; just being safe.


I am not affliated with Gilmore Girls.

Just for creative fun and my happiness. :)

-Rated M for language and possible sexual content later on. Just being safe!

Chapter 1:

Rory Gilmore was walking the street across from Luke's Diner in Stars Hollow. She was wearing a jean jacket, a pink sweater, and a tight worn pair of jean shorts. It didn't matter how often she was in Stars Hollow, the night weather always seemed to make her feel at home. There were a few out and about; she passed Daisy and Miss Patti walking to Dosey's Market, Kirk was going to Luke's, and a few others were walking home. Rory pulled the hood on her sweater up over her head, smiling to herself. She crossed the street and headed for Luke's. She paused briefly at the door; worried momentarily about what would happen once she crossed the threshold.

It was a month ago; Rory had just been left by Jess. She'd graduated high school, and though her plans for the summer hadn't exactly panned out the way she thought it would, she had at least hoped she could remain in Stars Hollow for the summer hanging with her boyfriend. Unfortunately, Jess left without another word. She kept getting calls, but no one would talk. On her graduation day she had finally told him how she felt. A month later, she still felt the awkward stares, but they were better than they were before. She still couldn't talk to Luke like she used to, but it wasn't because she thought it was his fault. She couldn't talk to him as much because Luke went out of his way to play up the situation and apologized a million times every time she saw him. She shrugged it off and entered the restaurant.

Lorelai Gilmore had been at work, so Rory was pretty much alone. It was true that their relationship as mother and daughter were unheard of, but the awkwardness between them had even begun to sink in some. Lorelai knew that Rory was hurting but she couldn't do anything about it. And Lorelai had told her all along that Jess was bad news, but Rory had to discover that herself; So even their relationship had been on the rocks. The only relationship that hadn't changed indirectly from the break up was Rory and Lane's. Lane Kim was Rory's best friend, and they had this bond that nothing could ever change. Rory smiled as she thought of Lane briefly. She sat down at a table by the front window and waited on Luke. The place was packed; but it usually was.

Just then, Dean walked in. Dean was her ex-boyfriend; he had broken up with her because she had a thing for Jess. She immediately ducked her head, noting momentarily that Lindsey wasn't with him. They'd become an item and there had been talks about marriage. Rory wasn't sure how she felt about that, but it was his life not hers. They'd both moved on, so the awkwardness between them shouldn't have changed any. Instead of going to a table to sit down, Dean moved over to Rory. He bit his lip, shoving his hands in his pockets. He rocked on his heel for a moment before beginning,

"Rory… I'm really sorry about Jess." Rory wasn't sure what she'd been expecting, but that hadn't been it.

"I… thank you." She replied, looking up at him. It still struck her even after dating for a good period of time, how tall he truly was. Dean smiled briefly at Rory.

"If you need anything... let me know." He said, before walking away. He didn't even wait for her answer. He must have been nervous. She ordered a large order of pancakes and threw in some cheese fries for good measure. Luke apologized about Jess again, then went and threw in a coffee for free. Maybe she should have eaten Chinese at Al's World of Pancakes.

2 years later:

Rory paced the floor at her grandma's house. She had been seeing (here and there, she definitely wouldn't go as far to call them boyfriend and girlfriend really) Logan Huntzberger. He was the bane of her existence sometimes. She checked her cell real quick, hoping a call or text or a smoke signal… anything that said maybe he remembered their date. Nothing; biting her lip, Rory grabbed her keys and went out to her car. In the car, on the passenger seat, sat about 11 binders. Each binder was labeled according to the source and the articles involved. Sighing, she grabbed them and tossed them onto the back seat. She'd worry about being neat a different time. _So what, he's probably busy._ Rory thought to herself. Pushing her bangs back from her eyes, she started the car.

There wasn't anywhere else in the world she wanted to be than Stars Hollow. She was getting on the highway as she felt her phone buzz. She pulled over to the median and took her phone out of her pocket. She had just gone through a siminar about being on the phone while driving and it had scared her just a little.

The text read, 'I'm sorry Ace, big party. I'll call you tomorrow.' Seething and teeming with disappointment, Rory threw her phone in the empty seat next to her and pulled back on to the highway. _Fine. But I won't sit there and be the front door mat._ She drove right to Luke's diner. Her mom was going to some kind of meeting for the Inn so she wasn't home. Instead, a nice juicy burger and some cheese fries might cheer Rory up. She parked next to the town square and walked over to Lukes.

Upon entering Luke's, Rory noted two things: One, there was no empty seats; and two, Luke was nowhere to be found. Lane was working very hard, appearing to carry eight plates at a time.

"Rory, would you like something to go? I would offer you a place to sit, but there was some kind of town historic event that went on today and I cannot even move the people from seat o seat without them getting mad." Lane said, quickly rushing to get the next bunch of plates. _Well, this isn't the calm environment I thought I'd get._ She said, but shrugged as she moved towards the cash register. She ordered her food to go, and there was a new cook that she couldn't identify.

"Where are the pickles?" Dean said, as he turned around to face the front. Rory saw his face and her heart stopped. What was Dean doing working at Luke's?

"Dean, you work here?" She asked, barely trusting her voice to work.

"Just temporarily. Luke had to go out of town for something and I ended up being the only one available to work." He said, handing Rory the bag of her food. "I don't think there are any pickles in this store, sorry." He said, and he swallowed hard. His Adams apple bobbed up and down awkwardly in the silence between them. The whole store seemed quiet to Rory. Dean was the first to break eye contact, but only because another one of the customers was talking to him. Rory paid Lane for the food and walked out to the gazebo. Her heart was still hammering in her chest. She had a strange reaction to Dean this time; she couldn't even describe it to herself. Picking up her hamburger, she bit into it and closed her eyes. She so enjoyed these burgers, and Dean made them just as good as Luke.

"Hey." Rory heard, and she glanced up. It was Dean. He smiled, looking kind of nervous. "Is it okay if I sit down?" He asked, and all she could do was nod. He had bag from Luke's too.

"Lunch or dinner break?" She asked, laughing just a little. He nodded.

"Same thing as you." He said, grabbing his sandwich from the bag and snagging a fry as well. "Sorry I don't mean to intrude; there is just nowhere else to go." He said, looking into her eyes. She felt a slight sizzle in the air, and felt a familiar pull in her stomach.

"So tell me Dean, where are you working when you're not a cook?" Rory asked, taking another bite of her sandwich.

"I'm a construction worker." He answered between a mouthful of food. "I got laid off though." He said quietly, and Rory could tell the words kind of hurt him. Like maybe he was struggling with money. "I also still work part-time at Dosey's. I didn't have much of an option and Dosey was more than ready to have another stock boy." He said, and as he put his hand down, his finger brushed her arm. She couldn't believe it but there it was, she had goosebumps.

"And Lindsey?" She asked, not wanting to hear an answer that she didn't know she could handle.

"Gone." He admitted, staring at his burger. "We fell apart pretty quickly. I wasn't changing to her liking." He said, his voice sounding more rough than sad. "I decided I needed someone who wanted me for who I am. So I live with my parents again." He said, but he didn't seem too thrilled about that.

"Oh, I see." She said, dipping her fry in some ketchup. "I live with my grandparents." She said. She hadn't told a lot of people that, and she definitely didn't let them know her and her mom Lorelei had been on the outs some. She had been willing, that night, to let it all go. If her mom could comfort her. That would be the big thing; if her mom could accept what Rory had decided to do. "I left Yale." She said, and Dean immediately seemed alert.

"You what? But Rory you know that you belong at Yale. You have such an amazing future in front of you." He said, meeting Rory's eyes with his own.

"I don't know. I need time to figure out what I want." She admitted, finishing off her fries. I just want time to figure out what I want and what I need." Dean placed his hand carefully on Rory's leg; she figured that this was more a soothing thing than a come on, but it made Rory nervous in a good way. She smiled.

"I understand that. I'm doing that now, myself." He said, moving a bit closer to Rory unconsciously.

Rory whispered, "What if coming here tonight had something to do with both our futures?" Dean nodded and the space between them became non-existant. Everything that had happened those last couple of months melted away; and with that, their lips met. The goosebumps that Rory had been getting on and off intensified, and it appeared that Dean felt that electricity between them as well. Pulling their lips apart seemed to take a wrecking ball effort, in Rory's opinion. Dean's breathing had picked up.

"Rory…" Dean began, and Rory stopped him with another kiss. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled him closer to her. They both abandoned their bags of food, the food falling onto the ground. She couldn't care less about the food at that moment.

Moments later, Lane peeked out of Luke's.

"Dean?" She yelled. Dean was the first to pull away, but he didn't seem to want to.

He yelled back, "Just a minute!"

"Your break is over! Get back in here! The people want their food!" She yelled back before slamming the front door the best she could. Rory's hands were shaking, but she reached for Dean's.

"Go back to work, Dean." She said softly, but she didn't want him to. He stood up, running his hands through his hair.

He leaned down and kissed her once more, then whispered, "Can we talk later?" Rory nodded and kissed him again.

"Please." She said. "555-2031." She said, grabbing a pen from her purse and writing it on his arm. He walked back to Luke's, leaving Rory to process what had just happened. It wasn't because she was mad at Logan; that wasn't it. Though she knew pretty well that she was mad about Logan. It's just that for the first time, maybe ever, the world stopped turning. The kiss, well kisses, with Dean had suddenly become the most important thing. She couldn't have described it if she wanted to; she just knew how she felt. She picked up their bags and tossed them in the trash, then got in her car. She drove back to her moms, and sat down waiting on the text from Dean.


End file.
